TAKING ACTION EARLY TO CONQUER THE STEM CRISIS

Interest in STEM subjects falls precipitously as students progress through elementary and middle school.

In the offensive to help develop a more technically skilled workforce, SAE International often finds itself charging up a hill to gain ground. It recently charged up Capitol Hill to convey urgency about the imperative of planting positive notions about STEM (science, technology engineering, and math) in the impressionable minds of the nation's young school-goers.

“If you try to get to students interested in STEM at high school, it's too late. If you try to get them at college, it's too late,” Christopher Ciuca, SAE's Manager of Pre-Professional Programs, said at a congressional briefing on June 15 as part of the Capitol Hill Maker Faire. Getting more kids interested in STEM is a job that must be done in middle school-or, even better, elementary school.